Sam Thomas bemoans 'ridiculous' reserve system as festival favourite misses out

Trainer Sam Thomas has voiced his dismay at the Cheltenham Festival reserve system after ante-post favourite Good Risk At All was denied a run in the Coral Cup.

Thomas, whose greatest day as a jockey came when winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2008 on the mighty Denman, was left frustrated with the time of the deadline for the £100,000 handicap hurdle, which prevented the first reserve from running in Wednesday's race won by 50-1 shot Commander Of Fleet.

Good Risk At All, an impressive winner at Ascot last month, failed to get into the Coral Cup at Tuesday's deadline, but three horses were declared non-runners on Wednesday, the first coming out before 10am.

"It's hugely frustrating and I don't understand the logic of having a deadline at 1pm the day before the race," said Thomas. "I'd rather not have been a reserve than be a reserve until 1pm the day before – it's a pointless set-up. I think it's ridiculous and a shame the favourite wasn't able to line up."

The system in Ireland allows for three reserves who can replace non-runners on raceday morning, and Thomas sees the merits in adopting a similar approach.

He said: "Could the deadline not be some time on raceday morning? I can understand if you need to make a declaration for another race, but when you've been training a horse for such a big race, it's frustrating for everyone."

Good Risk At All: ante-post Coral Cup favourite had been first reserve for the raceCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

To irk Thomas even further, the wet conditions which caused the three withdrawals on account of the ground would have suited Good Risk At All, who also missed out on last month's Betfair Hurdle after failing to meet the qualifying criteria.

The Dai Walters-owned six-year-old is now likely to join stablemate and fellow novice Skytastic, who is unbeaten in four starts, at Aintree next month.

"It's a case of the more rain, the better with Good Risk At All and that rubbed a bit more salt into the wounds [on Wednesday]," said Thomas.

"There are handicaps over two and a half and three miles for him at Aintree, providing the ground is nice and safe, and we've got Skytastic for one of the novices."

Stable star Iwilldoit, who gave Thomas his biggest win as a trainer when landing the Welsh Grand National in December, will not run again this season, with a return to Chepstow the long-term target.

"We've decided to put him away and keep him fresh for next season," said Thomas. "He looks fantastic and he'll probably have a comeback run over hurdles at the start of next season, and then we'll try to win the Welsh National again."

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